People who live near the area where Bannister Mall once stood said they're optimistic about the changes that could happen if Cerner puts a new work center there.

The health care systems company announced last week that it plans to buy the 237-acre property at Bannister Road and Interstate 435. It said it hopes to eventually provide a place for 15,000 people to work.

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Cerner is already working with Kansas City and Missouri leaders on an economic incentive package to help make the deal come together.

"I think it'd be really good," said Brandi Fanning, who lives in the area. "I need a job so yeah, anything would help."

The land was home to Bannister Mall, one of the area's most popular shopping destinations in the 1980s. It fell out of fashion in the '90s and was closed and razed in 2007.

Cerner's plans include a business campus that would have offices, on-site day care, food service and training spaces. There could also be retail stores, restaurants and a hotel.

Mark Carlock lives in the area and said he remembers when the area thrived.

"It's kind of gone downhill since then," he said. "We definitely need something to kind of bring the neighborhood back up a little bit because it's a little bit rough."

Kansas City Councilman John Sharp said he knows other plans for the site have been discussed and later collapsed, but he thinks this is the real deal.

"To actually see something going on here, and to get those old buildings torn down and to know that these high paying jobs are coming with more places to shop and eat are coming, it'll turn around this whole part of town," Sharp said.

Cerner already operates its Innovation Campus near the old Bannister Mall site. Nearly a third of its nearly 9,000 current local employees work there.

If everything goes as planned, Cerner said it hopes to complete the purchase of the property by the end of the year.